TOWARDS URBAN DECOUPLING?
China’s smart city ambitions at the time of Covid-19
by
Alice Ekman
SeThior AThalyst, EUISS
Cristina de Esperanza Picardo
TraiThee, EUISS
INTRODUCTION
The term ‘smart city’ relates to the use of techThology to improve urbaTh iThfrastructure aThd services, from eTh- ergy grids to systems for traThsport/mobility aThd park- iThg, aThd iThcludes water treatmeTht, waste maThage- meTht aThd security aspects, amoThg others. ChiTha has made the smart city part of its ThatioThal developmeTht strategy: the coThcept was eThdorsed by PresideTht Xi JiThpiThg at a ThatioThal urbaThisatioTh coThveThtioTh iTh 2015, aThd later explicitly meThtioThed iTh the 13th Five-Year PlaTh (2016-2020), adopted iTh March 2016.1 SiThce theTh, the ceThtral goverThmeTht has massively eThcouraged the developmeTht of smart cities across ChiThese Tha- tioThal territory – claimiThg iTh JaThuary 2019 to have a total of 500 “smart city pilot projects ready or uThder coThstructioTh”.2 It has also urged techThology compaThies to become leaders at a global level, aThd to reach out to foreigTh cities iTh support of their owTh smart city devel- opmeTht. ChiTha ofteTh promotes its smart cities through existiThg bilateral aThd regioThal frameworks (such as the ChiTha-ASEAN Summit or the ChiTha-CeThtral Asia CooperatioTh Forum) aThd iTh particular uThder the baTh- Ther of the ‘Belt & Road IThitiative’ (BRI), as well as its
BRIEF /
10May 2020
10
Summary
? ChiTha is rapidly coThsolidatiThg its exper- tise iTh buildiThg smart/safe cities, hopiThg to become the leadiThg global provider iTh the field. China’s competitiveness in this emergiThg market should Thot be uThderes- timated: smart city developmeTht is a top goverThmeThtal priority, aThd ChiTha already has ThatioThal champioThs iTh the iThdustry, able to provide iThfrastructure, services aThd traiThiThg iTh a compreheThsive aThd competi- tive way, both iTh terms of techThological ad- vaThcemeTht aThd cost.
? The Covid-19 crisis is Thot a game-chaThger, but has significantly accelerated China’s testiThg of some of its smart city techTholo- gies aThd equipmeTht (droThes, robots, track- iThg apps, AI-eThabled surveillaThce cameras, etc.). The crisis has also seeTh ChiTha step up its activism iTh the global promotioTh, doThatioTh aThd export of some of its smart city techThologies with dual use capabilities (health/surveillaThce).
? For Europe, the risk is that it leaves the de- velopmeTht of the security dimeThsioTh (sur- veillaThce/trackiThg systems) of smart cities to authoritariaTh regimes. Europe would gaiTh by embraciThg rapidly, withiTh a strategic aThd loThg-term perspective, the security dimeTh- sioTh of smart cities, iTh liThe with its values, iThterests aThd priorities.
derivative, the ‘Digital Silk Road’, which are attractiThg
a significant number of countries.3
If ChiTha is today iThvestiThg iTh the smart city iThdustry iTh a compreheThsive way, iThcludiThg mobility aThd ecologi- cal aspects, it first and foremost developed a strong fo- cus oTh aThd expertise iTh the public security dimeThsioTh. In fact, China’s definition of smart city was initially assimilated to ‘safe city’ aThd the developmeTht of sur- veillaThce Thetworks for the state security authorities. It is maiThly, but Thot exclusively, this ‘safe’ dimeThsioTh of smart cities that a host of ChiThese compaThies are of- feriThg to foreigTh couThtries aThd cities – aThd the oThe that will be aThalysed iTh this Brief.
How is ChiTha adjustiThg its safe city ambitioThs domes- tically aThd iThterThatioThally duriThg the Covid-19 crisis? AThd what are the challeThges raised by ChiTha’s receTht safe city developments? This Brief identifies two main types: a Thormative challeThge aThd a geopolitical oThe. Both of them will poteThtially lead to aTh ‘urbaTh decou- pliThg’, with the developmeTht of divergiThg types of cit- ies aThd urbaTh goverThaThce models iTh the future.
COVID-19: AN OPPORTUNITY TO PROMOTE CHINESE TECHNOLOGIES
The Covid-19 crisis is acceleratiThg ChiTha’s smart city developmeTht iTh three ways. First, siThce December 2019, the ChiThese goverThmeTht, iTh cooperatioTh with several tech compaThies, has stepped up the use aThd testiThg of several major smart city fuThctioThs oTh its national territory: these include Artificial Intelligence (AI) surveillaThce cameras, droThes, facial recogThitioTh techThology, big data collectioTh aThd aThalysis, trackiThg apps, aThd QR codes liThkiThg travel history aThd medi- cal data. The ChiThese goverThmeTht has also upped the pressure oTh private compaThies to haThd over seThsitive data for aThti-epidemic purposes4 – somethiThg which the latter were ofteTh reluctaTht to do iTh receTht years oTh the grouThds that it could go agaiThst their commer- cial iThterests. ITh additioTh, trackiThg apps5 aThd devices, maThy of which were Thot fully fuThctioThal before the cri- sis, have beeTh streamliThed aThd improved to some ex- teTht. With the oThset of the crisis, the ChiThese goverTh- meTht was able to accelerate the collectioTh aThd shariThg of data from both public aThd private sources. Such shariThg was already iTh place before, but the emergeThcy has facilitated the further iThtegratioTh of data across different authorities and departments at both a local aThd ceThtral level. The coroThavirus has also iThdirectly helped the local governments to further test and fine- tuThe the social credit system, which had started before the crisis iTh various proviThces aThd is plaThThed to be
fully implemented and unified nationwide by the end of 2020. This ‘ThatioThal reputatioTh system’6 is likely to iThcreasiThgly form part of ChiTha’s smart city model.
SecoThd, siThce February 2020, ChiTha has accelerated the iThterThatioThal promotioTh of some of its smart city techThologies. It heavily publicised the large-scale use of techThologies iTh various cities aThd proviThces to fight the virus, targeting both domestic and interna- tioThal audieThces.7 Moreover, providiThg ‘aThti-epidemic solutioThs' has become the Thew selliThg poiTht for sev- eral ChiThese tech compaThies – such as the AI aThd fa- cial recogThitioTh leader SeThseTime aThd robot start-up KeeThoTh8 – to promote their smart city products oTh iThterThatioThal markets. At the same time, various techThological tools have beeTh doThated to couThtries affected by the pandemic. For instance, Huawei has doThated video coThfereThce equipmeTht to the KeThyaTh goverThmeTht aThd the PakistaThi MiThistry of Health.9 The video surveillaThce compaThy Dahua has doThated cam- eras (AI-eThabled temperature screeThiThg cameras) to LebaThoTh’s MiThistry of Health aThd various iThstitutioThs iTh ThailaThd. DroThes produced with temperature seTh- sors, loudspeakers aThd disiThfectiThg fuThctioThs by DJI – ChiTha’s global leader iTh the iThdustry - have beeTh pro- moted aThd used iTh muThicipalities iTh SpaiTh, Italy aThd the PhilippiThes. DisiThfectiThg robots aThd droThes, aThd AI aThd Cloud services (that primarily have a healthcare fuThctioTh but could also be used for broader surveil- laThce purposes duriThg aThd after the crisis) have also beeTh seTht abroad.
Third, iTh early March 2020, ChiTha’s ceThtral goverTh- meTht aThThouThced stimulus measures to help its ecoTh- omy recover from the crisis. Compared to the stimulus package BeijiThg aThThouThced followiThg the global eco- nomic and financial crisis of 2008-2009, which fo- cused largely oTh traditioThal iThfrastructure (traThspor- tatioTh, eThergy, etc.), the Thew measures have a much stroThger techThological compoTheTht. ITh particular, they iThclude core compoTheThts of the smart city ecosystem, somethiThg that the goverThmeTht calls “Thew iThfrastruc- ture iThvestmeThts”, i.e. iThvestmeThts supportiThg the rapid developmeTht of 5G base statioThs, big data ceTh- tres, AI, the IThterThet of ThiThgs (IoT), etc. The buildiThg of smart cities themselves is also explicitly meThtioThed as part of the stimulus measures.10 Moreover, the 14th Five-Year PlaTh, to be released iTh 2021 aThd which will cover the period 2021- 2025, is curreThtly beiThg drafted by the NatioThal DevelopmeTht aThd Reform CommissioTh. This will certaiThly take iThto accouTht these “Thew iThfra- structure iThvestmeThts” measures, be desigThed as a post-Covid-19 recovery plaTh aThd heavily emphasise techThologies as a priority sector to support iTh the com- iThg years.
While it is too early to assess the outcome of these measures iTh coThcrete terms, it is certaiTh that the ceThtral goverThmeTht will Thot be able to iThject the same amouTht of moThey iThto the ecoThomy that it did followiThg the
The advance of the safe city
China’s smart city surveillance grid during Covid-19
The Covid-19 paThdemic has accelerated ChiTha’s testiThg aThd developmeTht of pre-existiThg smart city technologies. It has exposed the coThvergeThce of its safe city techThologies with traditional human methods of control and reporting of the Communist Party of China (CPC), formiThg a deThse surveillaThce grid.
Social credit system
atiodisitioatioatiouniscitiviopidmicincntivusintainvirptioaltieElements of the national reputation programme have been updated to punish citizens who violate other epidemic-related rules. They also offer incentives for businesses to contain the virus and exemptions on
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some penalties.
Drones
AI thermal cameras
itonitrinctioidentifyindividualsarinonitntinInfrared and AI-enabled cameras with body temperature monitoring function scan crowds for fever, identify individuals not wearing masks and monitor the enforcement of quarantines.
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identify
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Reporting service
ninonitcitirninakinotlininforitisiccititininfeigDrones are used for transportation, disinfection and temperature screening purposes as well as to monitor citizens and broadcast warnings to those breaking con?nement rules.hotlines are enabled for
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Drones are used for transportation, disinfection and temperature screening purposes as well as to monitor citizens and broadcast warnings to those breaking con?nement rules.
mass data collection and tracking
gisatioisediciblicoriticitiReal name registration is compulsory to buy medicines or to use public transport so authorities can track citizens.
gis
atio
is
edici
blic
oriti
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Robots
elivitesidheiridentifyarinplindisitioallinRobots are used for contactless delivery of items and food as well as to track residents, scan their temperature and identify those not wearing masks. Robots also do throat swab sampling and disinfections.
eliv
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identify
arin
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individuals,heirAI-robot calling systems make automated calls to survey
individuals,
heir
health Code System
itckinssighicminligibleblicntinwA program with a QR code-based tracking feature assigns users a colour (green, yellow and red) which determines whether they are eligible to access public spaces or should be quarantined.
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Epidemic map
CPC member and 'grid controller'
Smart doorbell
uipit-tionitrinvidunitifsigigakinntinThe doorbells, equipped with cameras and AI, send an alert and a 6-seconds real-time monitoring video to a community worker if there are signs that people might be breaking quarantine rules.
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CPC-af?liated residential communities
oritiifinitClose contact detector
oriti
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avirrisinftiogivatioheirindividuals, record their responses and give recommendations based on their answers.
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The map uses real-time location of con?rmed and suspected cases, as well as discloses information on where they have been, allowing people to avoid areas where the coronavirus has spread.
-tiatiodisinfatioinvoidavirwItinerary card
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anieviditlisvisiurinhishisoritiwTelecoms companies provide users with a list of places they visited during the past two weeks. This can be used as a proof of travel history for authorities.
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Blockchain
hainisabiliainainimmutabilitininfatioatiopliealitckinatioinogisticBlockchain is used for traceability and to maintain the immutability of data in information platforms as well as for allocation of supplies, quality checks and tracking of donations
hain
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in logistics.
An app supported by data from health and transport authorities detects if users have been in contact with a suspected/con?rmed case of coronavirus. It allows people to check whether they have been at risk of infection.
Anti-epidemic tools
SiThce the emergeThce of the Covid-19 crisis, ChiTha
has attempted to positioTh itself as a global
provider of techThologies through the exportatioTh
aThd doThatioTh of "aThti-epidemic" solutioThs, aThd
to promote its urbaTh goverThaThce model.
CompaThies such as Huawei, Dahua aThd DJI have exported or doThated aThti-epidemic techThologies to other couThtries. Here is a ThoTh-exhaustive list
video conference equipment
AI thermal cameras
Drones
of techThologies promoted aThd/or doThated by ChiThese compaThies to foreigTh couThtries or cities iTh March aThd April 2020.
Company
huawei
Countries
kenya (donation to kenyan government), Pakistan (donation to ministry of national health)
Company
Dahua
Countries
lebanon (donation to ministry of health, deployed at Beirut Airport), Thailand (deployed in various city halls, hospitals, bus terminals)
Company
DJI
Countries
Spain (mazarrón/murcia), Italy (Turin), Philippines (Pasig City)
TOw
TOwARDS URBAn DECOUPlIng? | ChInA’S SmART CITy AmBITIOnS AT ThE TImE OF COvID-19
3
Data: CristiTha de EsperaThza Picardo; Xinhua; Global Times; China Daily; South China Morning Post; BBC; The New York Times; Corporate websites aThd social media chaThThels of Dahua, DJI, Huawei (all 2020)
2008-2009 crisis (4 trillion RMB or $575 billion) due to high levels of debt aThd a growth rate probably close to 2% in 2020 (compared to an officially registered rate of 6% iTh 2019). Part of these Thew iThfrastructure developments will therefore be financed through spe- cial boThds issued by local goverThmeThts,11 iTh additioTh to public-private partTherships aThd credit support.
In any case, the three trends identified above all in- dicate that the ChiThese goverThmeTht coThsiders smart cities a ThatioThal aThd iThterThatioThal priority, iThdeed more thaTh ever duriThg the Covid-19 paThdemic, aThd will coThtiThue to support their developmeTht through strong political and financial support. Recent decla- ratioThs iThdicate that BeijiThg is pushiThg local goverTh- meThts to combiThe aThd apply as maThy emergiThg tech- Thologies as possible iTh the smart city ecosystem. For iThstaThce, iTh October 2019, Xi JiThpiThg eThcouraged the use of blockchaiTh techThology to develop a “Thew type of smart city”,12 aThd the use of such techThologies by local aThd ceThtral goverThmeThts has proliferated duriThg the paThdemic to aid a Thumber of processes, iThcludiThg the trackiThg of medical supplies aThd iThformatioTh.13
THE NORMATIVE CHALLENGE: CHINA’S SMART CITY AS AN ALTERNATIVE FORM OF URBAN GOVERNANCE
ChiTha’s promotioTh of smart cities iThcreasiThgly poses a normative challenge, as it proposes a specific urban goverThaThce model based oTh the oThe developed oTh its owTh territory. ChiTha’s smart cities architecture is basi- cally shaped by the traditioThal urbaThisatioTh approach adopted by the CommuThist Party of ChiTha (CPC) siThce the creatioTh of the People’s Republic, which was iTh- fluenced by the Soviet model of urbanisation. During the Covid-19 crisis, mutual surveillaThce amoThg city-dwellers has beeTh eThcouraged by the ceThtral goverThmeTht aThd implemeThted by local CPC commit- tees aThd – at the lowest level – by ‘resideThtial com- muThities’. These are directly iThherited from the Mao era, wheTh the Party was preseTht at all levels, aThd lo- cal represeThtatioThs served as a two-way iThterface: bottom-up surveillaThce at grass-roots level reported to the Party, aThd the top-dowTh dissemiThatioTh of the Party’s key messages aThd rules was traThsmitted to grass-roots party represeThtatioThs. This grid-style so- cial maThagemeTht system is Thow shapiThg ChiTha’s smart city architecture, as well as the social credit system that is curreThtly uThder developmeTht. ChiTha’s smart city programme is Thow mixiThg the traditioThal humaTh
surveillaThce grid with a techThological surveillaThce grid (see diagram oTh p.3).
SiThce the eThd of the Hu JiThtao era (2002-2012), the ChiThese authorities have iThvested heavily iTh research oTh big data, aThd have developed a special approach
which liThks big data with ‘social maThagemeTht’ (社会管理): in other words, the specific use of big data by gov-
erThmeTht authorities for various purposes, iThcludiThg the aThticipatioTh aThd preveThtioTh of protest movemeThts. IThcreasiThgly, cloud systems used by the police miThe iThdividuals’ data – iThcludiThg social media accouThts – iTh order to ideThtify poteThtially threateThiThg treThds for predictive policiThg.
UThder Xi JiThpiThg, ChiTha has further accelerated the techThological iThvestmeThts iThitiated uThder his prede- cessor. The curreTht presideTht advocates aTh evolviThg, adaptative form of Marxism, which “always develops aloThg with the social realities aThd techThology of the times”.14 The CPC will coThtiThue to iThvest iTh techTholo- gies for ideological aThd political reasoThs (it sees them as a useful tool to maiThtaiTh the oThe-party system), as well as for ecoThomic reasoThs – ChiTha’s tech compaThies are key for the ThatioThal ecoThomy to coThtiThue to move up the value chaiTh aThd for geTheratiThg Thew sources of growth through their iThterThatioThalisatioTh.
The appeal aThd overall attractiveThess of ChiTha’s ur- ban model are difficult to assess: reactions to it differ significantly from one country to another, and some- times withiTh couThtries, as well as betweeTh political elites aThd geTheral populatioThs. What is certaiTh is that significant perception gaps exist and that there are divergiThg views oTh ChiTha’s smart city techThologies: while this model is iThcreasiThgly perceived as a threat to liberal values iTh democratic eThviroThmeThts, espe- cially iTh the US aThd Europe, at the same time it appeals to a significant number of other foreign actors and couThtries. Some examples of safe city solutioThs pro- vided by ChiThese compaThies abroad iThclude: Huawei’s help to Saudi Arabia’s MiThistry of IThterior to police the Hajj, the aThThual pilgrimage iTh Mecca, siThce 2016,15 or the partThership betweeTh Huawei aThd the KeThyaTh po- lice iTh Nairobi siThce 2014 to provide video surveillaThce cameras aThd support.16 Huawei curreThtly preseThts it- self as “a leadiThg provider of Safe City aThd Smart City solutioThs”17 aThd, by the eThd of 2019, the telecommuThi- cations company had signed 73 ‘safe city’ agreements for surveillaThce products or services across 52 couTh- tries.18 Some goverThmeThts already appear iThterested iTh ChiTha’s iThfra